The National Assembly of the Gambia is the unicameral legislature of the Gambia. The authorisation for the National Assembly lies in Chapter VII of the Constitution of the Gambia. It is composed of 53 members directly elected through first past the post, and a further five members appointed by the President.
National Assembly of the Gambia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Deputy Speaker | Seedy Njie (NPP) since 17 April 2022 |
Majority Leader | Billay Tunkara (NPP) since 17 April 2022 |
Minority Leader | Alhagie S Darboe (UDP) since 17 April 2022 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 58 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (29) Opposition (29)α
|
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies plus 5 members appointed by the President | |
Last election | 9 April 2022 |
Next election | 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
| Parliament Buildings, Banjul | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Composition and electoral system
The National Assembly is unicameral and consists of 58 members who serve a five-year term. 53 members are directly elected while the remaining five are appointed by the President. Members are elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority, or first-past-the-post system.
History
Legislative representation based on universal adult suffrage in the Gambia began in May 1962, when elections were held for a 32-seat House of Representatives. These elections were won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was led by Dawda Jawara. After independence in 1965, the PPP continued to dominate the House of Representatives by winning a series of free, democratic elections in 1966, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, and 1992. While opposition parties were continuously present in the House, they were never able to successfully wrest power from the PPP. Jawara's government was overthrown in a July 1994 military coup led by Yahya Jammeh. The constitution and all elected institutions, including the House of Representatives, were dissolved. After the coup, political party activities were banned. The ban was lifted in August 1996 following the approval of a new constitution, but three Jawara-era parties – the PPP, Gambian People's Party (GPP), and the National Convention Party (NCP) remained proscribed.
Legislative elections to the renamed National Assembly took place on 2 January 1997. Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) won 33 out of 45 seats, the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won 7, two went to both the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and Independents, with the People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) winning the remaining seat.
The Independent Electoral Commission (Gambia) (IEC) lifted the ban on the PPP, GPP, and NCP in August 2001, five months before the next scheduled legislative election.
On April 7, 2017, the IEC announced that UDP had won a majority of 31 seats out of 53 available during the 2017 legislative elections.
On 17 April 2022, the sixth legislature was sworn in after the 2022 elections, NPP's electoral alliance with the APRC and with NRP gave the pro-government bloc a majority, with 29 seats.[1]
Leadership
The current leadership of the National Assembly is as follows: APRC leader Fabakary Jatta as assembly speaker, Seedy Njieh as deputy speaker, Billay Tunkara as majority leader and UDP leader Ousainou Darboe as minority leader.[2] The Speaker and Deputy Speaker may only be chosen from among the presidential appointees to the National Assembly, not the elected members.[3] Speakers of the National Assembly are considered impartial presiding officers, although they may cast tie-breaking votes.[4]
| Role | Term of Office | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker of the National Assembly | ||
| Mustapha B. Wadda | 1997–2002 | APRC |
| Sheriff Mustapha Dibba | 2002–2006 | NCP |
| Belinda Bidwell | 2006–2007 | Independent |
| Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay | 2007–2010 | APRC |
| Abdoulie Bojang | 2010–2017 | APRC |
| Mariam Jack-Denton | 2017–2022 | UDP |
| Fabakary Jatta | 2022-present | APRC |
| Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly | ||
| Cecilia Cole | 1997–2000 | APRC |
| Belinda Bidwell | 2002–2006 | Independent |
| George Aziz | 2006–2007 | APRC |
| Abdoulie Bojang | 2007–2010 | APRC |
| Fatou Mbye | 2010–2017 | APRC |
| Momodou L. K. Sanneh | 2017–2022 | UDP |
| Seedy Njieh | 2022-present | NPP |
| Majority Leader | ||
| Tamsir Jallow | 1997–2002 | APRC |
| Baba Jobe | 2002–2003 | APRC |
| Churchill Baldeh | 2003–2007 | APRC |
| Fabakary Jatta | 2007–2017 | APRC |
| Kebba K. Barrow | 2017–2022 | UDP |
| Billay Tunkara | 2022-present | NPP |
| Minority Leader | ||
| Kemesseng Jammeh | 1997–2002 | UDP |
| Halifa Sallah | 2002–2007 | PDOIS |
| Momodou L. K. Sanneh | 2007–2012 | UDP |
| Samba Jallow | 2012–2022 | NRP |
| Alhagie S Darboe | 2022-present | UDP |
Notes
- ^α Independents are listed as part of the opposition by default.